


Courtly Displays

by AliasArchives



Series: Revalink Drabbles [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M, Revali hecked up, courting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 16:46:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11604729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliasArchives/pseuds/AliasArchives
Summary: Revali relishes any opportunity to show off his archery to visitors to the Flight Range. To his disdain though, some visitors require more dazzling than others.





	Courtly Displays

**Author's Note:**

> ORIGINALLY this was going to come before "Hylian and Rito Anatomy for Dummies" but the smut wanted to roll out first. Here's the prequel.

     Revali loved any opportunity to show that he had earned the title “Rito Champion”, and one of his favorite opportunities was when he was at the Flight Range just outside of Rito Village. Here, he would practice every day at the exact same time, making it one of the easiest places to find the young rito. As a result, he was often visited by spectators whom he would often ignore in favor of focusing on his aim. Still, knowing others were present always pushed him to do better; to make his shots more stylish and more complex.

     One day a pair of women wandered to the Flight Range to watch him. He took this opportunity to practice his triple shot, which was a feat that only his bow was able to accomplish. He had flown into perfect positioning and took aim at three separate targets that ran in a diagonal line from one another. Each target was stuck with an arrow; two were bullseyes, while the farthest left was only barely off the mark. The Rito women watching began to quietly gossip together, while the blue-feathered champion stood proudly overlooking his work. This was commonplace for Revali. It was something that was rewarded with attention and status from and among his people, and the champion thrived on it. Any eyes watching his archery were wanted eyes.

     Or so he thought.

     When the princess of Hyrule, the very reason that he was named a Champion, arrived with her appointed knight to observe his archery Revali grew irritable. It was not because they jeered or muttered quietly together, but because only one seemed impressed at all by his archery skills. He heard praise from one voice, but never a second.

     Perhaps that was where his disdain for Link blossomed; in his silence. It started because of his indifference to what Revali was capable of. He wanted praise, not just from his own people, but from all of the people of Hyrule. He wanted to be remembered, and to be immortalized around their realm. The idea that someone was not enraptured with his talents crushed that hope between tiny, featherless fingers.

     As a result, he would pull out every single trick he had in his arsenal in order to impress the high and mighty hylian ‘champion’, and he would execute every one of them flawlessly.

     It took some arrangements and, perhaps, a well placed anonymous note at the foot of Link’s bed, to shepherd the hylian back to the Flight Range when he and Princess Zelda arrived to speak with the village elder a second time. Either way, he would bear witness to every maneuver Revali had mastered, and it would take the simple hylian’s breath away.

     First the rito made easy shots, building himself up in a strangely modest way as warm up before he released his complex attacks. After this, Revali glanced over at Link and, as though he was surprised to see him, he flew over to the boy and landed before him with an overly exaggerated flourish.

     “Well well, have you found our wonderful training grounds? They’re quite impressive, aren’t they?” The rito’s feathers were puffed up, and his beak was raised skyward. Link nodded in agreement, his eyes filled with curiosity, but provided no sign of enchantment. “Of course it’s rare to see others out here at this time of day; most enjoy practicing before or after me.” Link still remained silent, an eyebrow raising.Annoyed, Revali continued.

     “Well, you’re welcome to stay and watch, but I should get back to practicing.” With that, Revali resumed his training. He pushed himself hard, making shots that even he was surprised by, all in an attempt to pull  _ some _ noise from Link. At one point he thought he heard a surprised gasp when he hit a target that was particularly far down. At another, when he had a few apples bouncing in the air, he swore he heard some sort of...giggle? What was so amusing about shooting fruit? It annoyed Revali; after all, those apples were the only things he could use as moving targets.

     The blue-feathered rito was just about to return to the landing platform when something flew towards him. Immediately his plumage rose, and he was just able to get his bow out fast enough to snipe another apple from the air. The arrow embedded into the rafters of the platform, inches above Link’s head. That earned a spark of surprise, and Revali took it as a sign of awe. Choosing to ignore the fact Link had thrown something at him, Revali bowed. He was about to speak, to comment on Link’s silence, but a familiar voice stopped him.

     “Revali! Where are you- oh.” The avian turned his attention to the village elder, standing upright and cocking his head slightly in confusion. Beside him stood Zelda.

     “So this  _ is _ where you wandered off to,” The princess said, crossing her arms over her chest. Link rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

     “Ah, Princess Zelda, we may have to excuse ourselves; I believe Revali and Link were in the middle of something.” The elder was already carefully wrapping her wing around the princess, and Revali was beyond confused.

     “Elder, what are you speaking of?” Revali asked. Link tilted his head as well.

     “Well, you see, someone brought the letter from where Link was sleeping to me, and, well, your handwriting is quite distinguished. I am mildly surprised by how quickly you realized you wanted to court someone you’ve only just recently met, but I am pleased for you!”

     Revali sputtered, his feathers fluffing out as much as they could, and he could feel his face growing warm beneath those feathers.

     “I- I, no! You’ve got this all wrong, Elder!” Revali was mortified. Obviously he knew tradition, but he had no intentions of courting the other man! 

     “It’s all right, Revali. You are the Rito people’s champion, worthy of respect and appreciation. Our people will be delighted you’ve taken to someone, that is, if Link was impressed with what you had to offer?” The Elder proceeded to look at Link, who was blushing crimson by now as a result of the cold and their current conversation.

     To Revali’s shock, the hylian began to move his hands, and everything started to make sense to him.

     Oh, how he detested this man.

     ‘He’s a gifted archer, ma’am. I don’t know that either one of us thought this was him...courting me, however,’ Link signed. The Elder arched an eyebrow.

  
     “I see...Perhaps you might consider it, either way. I believe you two have some similarities yet.” With that, the older rito turned around, and gestured for Zelda to come with her. “We will see you both in the village. I suspect you may need a moment to gather yourselves.”

     Once the pair were far enough away, Zelda tilted her head quizzically.

     “Did you truly think that Revali was trying to court Link? Why?” She asked. The elder laughed.

     “I’ve seen males and females of my species alike go to watch Revali practice, but I have never once seen Revali approach them, much less bow to them. His body knew exactly what it was doing, even if his mind does not.”

     Zelda seemed impressed by the honesty of her companion. “Well-I suppose we’ll just have to see what kind of conclusions their minds come to.”


End file.
